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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

1) I found the perfume I have been wanting for
$29 at TJ MAxx instead of $70! I haven't bought new perfume in about 4 years so I
am psyched.

2) Fall is coming (at least in stores) and with that comes yummy pumpkin smelling Yankee candles--my fave. I have one lit up in my office right now.

3) I started making FROZEN SPINACH CUBES for Green Smoothies!I usually buy the HUGE bags of fresh spinach at Costco--but even with a
green smoothie everyday there is bound to be some leaves that end up bad. I was tired of waste so I decided to blend it up and freeze the spinach in ice cube trays. Now I throw about 5-6
frozen spinach cubes in the blender with some fruit and water/almond milk and I'm set! *Bonus*-they
take place of needing any ice if you like your smoothies super cold like I do.

Now, I recognize that there are probably a million people who already do this (I refuse to Google it for fear of seeing my un-orginality). I betcha it was even on Martha Stewart as some brilliant tip years ago. But if you're like me and need an "ah-ha!" moment to help make unused wilted spinach a thing of the past--here it is for you!

HOW TO:

Fill up your blender with fresh spinach leaves and add a bit of water to blend.

Pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze

Take them out of the ice cube tray when frozen

(I then store mine in a ziploc freezer bag in the freezer)

When it's smoothie making time--pop a few frozen spinach cubes into your blender

Great idea. I just freeze spinach - whole leaves - in pint size ziplock bags. When I'm ready to make it into a smoothie I break off a chunk of frozen spinach into my Vitamix with fruit and water. Works great and no one can ever tell!

BeautybyJamie--I don't think blanching is necessary at all. My frozen spinach doesn't even stay in the freezer that long--it's simply a means to make sure no fresh spinach goes to waste. Considering a green smoothie is one of my daily routines, I would say that it's not in the freezer long enough for any concerns.

I love this idea. I buy large bags of kale at BJs and even though I make 6 smoothies and 4 large salads a week I often throw some out. Trying to live a low carb lifestyle and brakfast is usually a chocolate Atkins shake turned into a smoothie with either kale or blueberries, cinnamon, and cayanne pepper.

I thought about this a few months back but didn't try it. I will now! I make up smoothie bags with assorted frozen fruits & vegetables. I put one into my blender, add my protein powder & yogurt abd sway I go. Now I can add the spinach too. I will also try a half spinach half kale blend too.

I freeze my spinach and kale, so they don't go to waste. We are blendtec twins! May I share this photo (lovely photography)? Also let me know if you would be interested in using this as a guest post on our blog. Such a great tip!

I am in love. I am pregnant, and I need more veggies, and don't crave them. I do however crave fruit and smoothies, so I just cheated! The orange concentrate is loaded with sugar, but the orange helps neutralize the spinach flavour. You can use something else, but I prefer it.

Hi- I was just wondering if this would be ok to do with all of my choosen fresh smoothie ingredients- as in apples, bannanas, straw/black/blue berries, and kale. I'm new to smoothies- like havent even opened my blender. lol Can I just blend the ingredients, freeze them then throw in the cubes all at once to make an everyday smoothie?

Anon-- yep, you could do this with any ingredients that you normally throw into a smoothie. I would probably separate the greens/fruit into separate cubes to be able to control your amounts better or change up the flavors a bit. For instance, some days I might want kale and bananas while other days I might want more spinach and strawberries.

I still like the idea of using whole frozen instead of the cubes though, simply because the greens can condense more (shrink down) while if you put fruit into ice cubes, technically you might be getting less of them.

I really love your idea of freezing the puréed spinach as it would save any from spoiling and be ready to try new recipes at a moments notice. I have actually made up lots of different green smoothies and frozen them in serving sized freezer containers. It works well because they are ready to use so I can grab one on my way or leave it in the fridge overnight to be ready when I need it. Thanks again for a great idea!

Great idea! I freeze shredded zucchini in ice cube trays to add to smoothies and used bagged frozen veggies like broccoli in smoothies but never thought of freezing my spinach before it goes bad. Thanks for the tip

I saw this on Pinterest, but I don't understand why you would go to the bother to blend the spinach and put in ice trays. Why not just shove the spinach in ziplock bags and freeze it whole? It works just fine in smoothies this way. I even make separate bags with the spinach, strawberries, and banana for individual mornings of the week. Then I just add some orange slices or pineapple, and voila! It still doesn't rot in the bottom of the fridge my way.

I saw this on Pintrest and couldn't wait to try it! I made these last night and am so excited to use them. I literally blended up a huge Sams club box worth of organic spinach and got 3 ice cube trays out of it. I figured out that 6 cubes equals the 2 handfuls I've been using in one smoothie. I've also become an obsessive fruit freezer! Mangos, strawberries, bananas, tangerines, avocado, pineapple. I love the idea of adding the hemp/ flax seeds to the mix as well. I'll do that next time.

Anonymous-- I don't have a magic bullet, so I'm not sure if maybe you are not getting as much power as a high intensity blender would to break it up better? Maybe you could add more liquid to smooth the texture out...

I'm so guilty, I should be in jail. I was looking in my refrigerator while making a shopping list and said, "Yep, the bag of spinach is going bad, need a new bag". This is going to save me money on a lot of smoothie things "big time".

Blanching is slightly cooking a veggie then placing it cold water. Here's the definition:Blanching is a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process.

Great idea I love it...!! Melloicemachine is a leading manufacturer of flake ice making machine, tube ice making machine, ice cube machine and more for home and commercial use. The most important is that we provide the utmost competitive prices to all our producthether you are individual client or corporate.

Oh my gosh!! It doesn't matter to me if you are the initiator of spinach cubes, I has NEVER even thought of doing this! You have changed my breakfast and saved ME from wasting all that spinach! Thank you so much!

Hello there, thanks for blogging such wonderful information and compiling an excellent list for the readers. Hey, excited to see more tips and stay us learned like this! Everyone should check out this complete blog especially the components. Good work!

HI I Know you can freeze avacado... I used to for my daughter baby food it lasts about a week to a week n a half. anoth thing to do is to freeze the cubes and date them and then you know how long they last after opening and closing ove a week or month depending on the type of food. or mix frozen spinich flakes, my boss does this: she freezes kale and spinich then after its frozen she twists and crumbles it into flakes, then shakes a bit into her shakes each day.. it works I've tried both :) happy smothies :)

Making smoothies or Green drink is super easy. I also add some spinach leaves in my drink everyday. You really shared brilliant idea of making frozen cubes of spinach for drink. I am going to make such lovely cubes of spinach and kale mixture for my quick drink.

This has been a fabulous read. I am totally new to juice blending. I purchased a Vitamix and thought I would do some research before heading to the grocery store. I feel so confident after reading all of the comments here. I'll be back with the results of my first juice blend. Thanks to all who took the time to post your true thoughts and feelings.